A Connection to History; and to My Personal Past!

We had such a great weekend right after New Years! We drove to La Junta, Colorado. La Junta may not be the first place you might think of to visit, but we had a great time – and there is so much more to see in the summer, because some of the museums are closed in the winter, and some of the outdoor sites are not so pleasant unless you happen to have a warmer winter day, not to mention I’m sure you will see much more wild life in a warmer season.

A weekend would not have been enough to see everything that is available in the summer anyway. We definitely plan to return early or late summer as even Bent’s Old Fort and the Koshare Dancers will have an even better program then! http://www.lajuntachamber.com/ www.santafetrailscenicandhistoricbyway.org/sitelajun

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site is an amazing look into history that is just northeast of La Junta. There are tours with an authentic looking ‘Mountain Man’ telling about the this fort that is on the Santa Fe Trail and was actually part of global history, even as isolated in the old west as it was. www.nps.gov/archive/beol/home.htm


The world renowned Koshare Indian dancers are a nationally known dance group that is a part of a Boy Scout Troop. It is now co-ed and there are dancers of all ages. They study the authentic dances of several Native American tribes and have even gotten their approval.

I was amazed at their focus; they take the dance very seriously. They have toured the country and out of the country as well. The community is clearly proud of them, as they should be; I talked with people at restaurants about them and someone there mentioned that almost all of the young people in the dance go to college.They do have so much to be proud of.

Their world famous Koshare Indian Museum has a premiere collection of Native American Indian art and artifacts, and they have built a large kiva for the dances, with the largest self-supported log roof in the world. www.kosharehistory.org


It is so nice to know you can still stay some places where the service is so personal; our stay was extra special because we got the best motel deal in town at America’s Best Value Inn & Suites.

Pete, the owner was friendly, helpful, and accommodating, and he remembered our name when we arrived, before we told him who we were. He was still working on finding someone to run the attached restaurant while we were there, so he was very helpful in pointing us toward some very nice restaurants in town – this and in so many ways, he made us very comfortable and able to find the best things to do while we were there. www.americasbestvalueinn.com/bestv.cfm?idp=1452


After I returned home, I got a call from my sister and I shared our experience with her. She told Me a story that I remembered some of but she is thirteen years older than I, so I could not have remembered much. I did remember that a boy scout troop invited her girl scout troop to a ball; I remembered the story rather, because after the dress was no longer in style I got to use it for dressups.

It turns out that my sister's Girl Scout troop invited the Koshares Dancers for a visit when they came to Denver to dance at Red Rocks. Then, later the Koshare Dancers invited my sister's troop to La Junta and they had a formal ballroom type dance in the kiva. It was really fun to reconnect with my childhood memories and bring them up to date as well connecting them to this recent trip.


It is so important to keep our connections to our ancient cultures. It is a rich heritage, and I firmly believe that it will take the wisdom of the ancient cultures working together with some of our newer technology to save our planet and ourselves -- Wholism at its best!.

Nancy Jean Nason

Cravings: addiction or "?"

Do crave chocolate? Sugar? Salty snacks?

Do you know that even these foods can be good for you? Cravings can be because your body needs these foods. However, if the food has been processed improperly, it may taste like you expect it to, but some of the food value may be lost.

In addition, it is so important to use the Whole food, rather than extracting parts such as oils, enzymes, etc. -- one perfect example of Wholism. Then you keep craving the food because you did not get what you needed it for – why you craved it, and then it may to turn into an addiction.

Here are some examples:

Salt

There is a magnetic relationship between salt and minerals, so one of the benefits of eating salt is the minerals you get. The problem is that most salt in the stores, restaurants, etc. has had the minerals taken out , so they can sell them separately and make more money, or the salt compound was made in a laboratory; one reason most salt is pretty cheap and a good sea salt or other complete salt is more: you are getting much more than plain salt (plain salt doesn’t really happen in nature).

This cheap salt goes through your body leaching minerals out of your body, because of the magnetic relationship; and since our bodies are made of minerals and water, a lack of minerals can only mean deterioration.

The answer? Only use good complete salt; that cheap salt can be for not slipping on the sidewalk or some people use it on the stove to keep food from sticking that overflows out of pans, but it should not be considered real food because it has been altered.

I have found a sea salt that I love; it is called SmartSaltz® and not only does it have the minerals it needs, they did not remove the minerals, they did not add calcium silicates, and they found a way to remove the dirt, and make it into fine flowing crystals.

Many scientists believe that these impurities/dross can potentially run interference with heart health. It does not taste as brackish if you get a little too much; it is the cleanest tasting salt I have ever tasted. You can even see it if you dissolve both kinds of salt in separate jars of water. You can see a video of this and try it by going to the following website:

http://offnrunnin.fg-bg.com/US_SmartSaltz.html

Sugar

Sugar helps us digest food, it has enzymes for this purpose; however most of the sugar on the market has been processed so thoroughly that the enzyme is gone. My personal opinion is that without that enzyme to digest the sugar properly, we get an imbalance in our system, which may cause things like diabetes.

If the missing enzyme were not enough, they often use bleach in the processing, which is poisonous to us. I usually find good sugar in oriental supermarkets, and I have also found some in health stores.

Chocolate

Among other things, dark chocolate has the highest antioxidant I have ever seen charted: rated in the 13 thousand ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity is a measure of the ability of foods to subdue harmful oxygen free radical that can damage our bodies.) units per 100 grams compared to 980 for Brussels sprouts, 2400 for blueberries, or 5770 for prunes (the highest besides chocolate) (SOURCE: Data from U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Journal of the American Chemical Society).

However, when chocolate is ruined by refined sugar, wax, lard, transfats, milk, hormone treated dairy, or cheap fillers, the antioxidant quality may be lacking or non-existent. With ForeverGreen’s, 100% organic, Good for you, Guilt Free, Dross Free, 24 Karat ChocolateTM, WOW, what a clean tasting chocolate!

http://offnrunnin.fg-bg.com/US_Chocolate.html
There are several forms to choose from; the "24 Karat Fondue Chocolate (natural)", 2 pounds of wafers is the best value.


And what is the most exciting news is that when you ‘satisfy’ your craving with a moderate amount of salt, sugar, chocolate that is complete and processed cleanly, that moderate amount satisfies that craving! (If you have a long standing “addiction” to one or all of these, then you may need to work on that part of it, but you won’t have the true need type of craving left unsatisfied to complicate the issue and thwart your efforts!)

Remember, your cravings may be an addiction, but maybe it is just your body telling you what it needs; be sure to give it what it needs, not just what tastes like what it needs, and of course moderation is important and easier to do if you are using whole fresh foods.